AL East: Can The Toronto Blue Jays Win The Division Crown?

The Toronto Blue Jays have started the Major League Baseball season with a 2-5 record and are in last place in the American League East standings.

A disappointing start after acquiring National League CY Young Award winner R.A. Dickey and shortstop Jose Reyes. Also, brought on board was Josh Johnson and with these moves the Blue Jays began the year as favorites to win the division.

Even more surprising has been the struggles of the starting rotation as Johnson has the best earned run average on the staff at 4.50.

Dickey has not fared well with a record of 0-2, an 8.44 era and a whip of 1.97. Proving that he is still unable to pitch effectively in the AL.

Offensively Jose Bautista missed three games due to an ankle injury and lost two of those games without him in the lineup. He has started the season slowly hitting just .188 in four games played.

It’s worse for Edwin Encarnacion as his averaged is a miserable .074, as he only has two hits in 27 at-bats. Last season, Encarnacion hit 42 home runs, drove in 110 and batted .280. The Blue Jays team average is .223 ranking 25th in MLB.

Other than Reyes the offense isn’t anything to write home about. Toronto currently ranks 21st in runs and 23rd in obp.

The season has just begun and it’s just a matter of time before the likes of Encarnacion, Bautista, Dickey, and Brandon Morrow turn things around. An AL East title is still a reasonable prediction for the Blue Jays.

The New York Yankees offense isn’t as powerful due to injuries and the pitching is suspect. Surprisingly competition comes from the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. If the Blue Jays fall short it’s due to Baltimore having a superb offense and even better pitching.

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